Here is my rant about recruiting. Just want to get it off my chest...don't mean to take any personal shots at Claeys or really spark that debate too much but want to get the board's take because there certainly seems to be a lack of excitement.
Last year TC said two weeks before Signing Day they would sign 28. A couple days before Signing Day he said they were going to sign 25. None of us thought they would sign that many and they signed 20. This year it appears we're following a similar pattern. None of the recruiting sites have had much buzz and certainly aren't predicting we'll land enough of our remaining top targets to get to the 22-25 size this class will be.
I think we'll both come short of filling our allotted scholarships and have to flip some MAC/Sun Belt guys in the final 2 weeks. Some say to not be concerned about not filling scholarships because that way there's more space to award walk-ons and get late qualifiers, but let me remind you...most schools oversign, not undersign and there's a reason for that. And some that oversign still find room for late qualifiers or late additions like Greene.
When I look at recruiting...
We haven't flipped our lone top target at QB. That's concerning since he's been the only guy we've wanted for over 4 months and he's committed to Colorado State. A p5 program that consistently goes to bowl games, has new facilities coming, and has a graduating senior QB should be able to flip someone from Colorado State in that time period. Wouldn't be opposed to giving Taamu a scholarship.
At RB, we appear unaware of who our top target is. MJH says Jaykle Holmes but before he's said he's a slot guy and that they wanted to evaluate him more. Well he played QB this year so we didn't get to evaluate him at either QB or WR. No visit set up either during the season...so if we sign him I'm assuming we're getting a guy we kind of liked but didn't love. Wooden and Huntley appear to be backups...at this point it just seems like were only going through the motions with RB recruiting.
WR recruiting is concerning. All targets other than Hawes that we liked after evaluating junior film and spring ball are elsewhere or have Minnesota off their list.
Jake Paulson seems to be the man at TE. Hope we can get him and that more p5 programs don't offer like Illinois did. Not sure why Sal Cannella was ever a target as TE isn't a spot we need JUCOs for right? Hopefully that's not a sign that Brandon Lingen's injury is longterm or that Witham hasn't looked good. @kcgorilla I'd love to hear if you've heard anything...but of course I get it if there's information you can't share.
Not worried about OL no matter what happens with Gaynor. We're pretty set for next year. If there's someone who can find guys late, Bart Miller shown he's the guy plus I think he'll recruit well in future classes.
DL recruiting seems like it's going down the same comical train wreck path as last year. Croslen's a beast tho. Seems bizarre Boye Mafe hasn't committed yet and at this point I wonder if he picks up another p5 offer late when his film goes out and then goes there. It just doesn't make sense that he's not committed yet. He's had the offer for 2.5 months and visited elsewhere...this is way past sleeping on it, talking it over, and making sure it's the right fit. We've been Hubbard's favorite forever but for some reason still haven't decided if we want to take him. MJH says we want JUCOs but we haven't talked to Berry and Clemons is going bigger places? Who are we talking to then?
Not worried about LB recruiting no matter what happens...Sherels is the man and an ace recruiter.
Not worried about DB recruiting as long as Sawvel is here. I place full trust in him. Plus we turned away Terry right? We have more DBs that want to come here than we can make room for!
A little concerned we're giving a scholly to a kicker that was 5/12 this year. Carpenter is only a sophomore...we don't even need a kicker this class.
IMO we'll continue to be good at what we're good at (DB, LB). I think with Bart Miller we'll be able to add OL to that list too. I have concerns about RB and TE recruiting but we've struggled getting TEs before and always turned out more than fine. QB recruiting seems to be mismanaged just like it was under Limey/Z. DL recruiting is a clusterfvck like it's been the past couple years.
Hope we finish strong...Go Gophs!
Last year TC said two weeks before Signing Day they would sign 28. A couple days before Signing Day he said they were going to sign 25. None of us thought they would sign that many and they signed 20. This year it appears we're following a similar pattern. None of the recruiting sites have had much buzz and certainly aren't predicting we'll land enough of our remaining top targets to get to the 22-25 size this class will be.
I think we'll both come short of filling our allotted scholarships and have to flip some MAC/Sun Belt guys in the final 2 weeks. Some say to not be concerned about not filling scholarships because that way there's more space to award walk-ons and get late qualifiers, but let me remind you...most schools oversign, not undersign and there's a reason for that. And some that oversign still find room for late qualifiers or late additions like Greene.
When I look at recruiting...
We haven't flipped our lone top target at QB. That's concerning since he's been the only guy we've wanted for over 4 months and he's committed to Colorado State. A p5 program that consistently goes to bowl games, has new facilities coming, and has a graduating senior QB should be able to flip someone from Colorado State in that time period. Wouldn't be opposed to giving Taamu a scholarship.
At RB, we appear unaware of who our top target is. MJH says Jaykle Holmes but before he's said he's a slot guy and that they wanted to evaluate him more. Well he played QB this year so we didn't get to evaluate him at either QB or WR. No visit set up either during the season...so if we sign him I'm assuming we're getting a guy we kind of liked but didn't love. Wooden and Huntley appear to be backups...at this point it just seems like were only going through the motions with RB recruiting.
WR recruiting is concerning. All targets other than Hawes that we liked after evaluating junior film and spring ball are elsewhere or have Minnesota off their list.
Jake Paulson seems to be the man at TE. Hope we can get him and that more p5 programs don't offer like Illinois did. Not sure why Sal Cannella was ever a target as TE isn't a spot we need JUCOs for right? Hopefully that's not a sign that Brandon Lingen's injury is longterm or that Witham hasn't looked good. @kcgorilla I'd love to hear if you've heard anything...but of course I get it if there's information you can't share.
Not worried about OL no matter what happens with Gaynor. We're pretty set for next year. If there's someone who can find guys late, Bart Miller shown he's the guy plus I think he'll recruit well in future classes.
DL recruiting seems like it's going down the same comical train wreck path as last year. Croslen's a beast tho. Seems bizarre Boye Mafe hasn't committed yet and at this point I wonder if he picks up another p5 offer late when his film goes out and then goes there. It just doesn't make sense that he's not committed yet. He's had the offer for 2.5 months and visited elsewhere...this is way past sleeping on it, talking it over, and making sure it's the right fit. We've been Hubbard's favorite forever but for some reason still haven't decided if we want to take him. MJH says we want JUCOs but we haven't talked to Berry and Clemons is going bigger places? Who are we talking to then?
Not worried about LB recruiting no matter what happens...Sherels is the man and an ace recruiter.
Not worried about DB recruiting as long as Sawvel is here. I place full trust in him. Plus we turned away Terry right? We have more DBs that want to come here than we can make room for!
A little concerned we're giving a scholly to a kicker that was 5/12 this year. Carpenter is only a sophomore...we don't even need a kicker this class.
IMO we'll continue to be good at what we're good at (DB, LB). I think with Bart Miller we'll be able to add OL to that list too. I have concerns about RB and TE recruiting but we've struggled getting TEs before and always turned out more than fine. QB recruiting seems to be mismanaged just like it was under Limey/Z. DL recruiting is a clusterfvck like it's been the past couple years.
Hope we finish strong...Go Gophs!
